W. Tennis | Ranked rivals romp on Red and Blue

Down 7-4 and facing match point, juniors Ekaterina Kosminskaya and Maria Anisimova were on the brink of losing the doubles point in their match against No. 48 Princeton Saturday.

Kosminskaya extended the match by rifling a cross-court return to set up a strong volley down the line for a winner. The duo then battled through three deuces and two more match points before finally falling on a weak service return.

Their struggle was common for the Quakers, who couldn't account for Princeton's consistency and talent. The team lost, 7-0, to the Tigers at Levy Tennis Pavilion.

"Princeton is a very deep team," interim head coach Sara Schiffman said. "The scores were not reflective of how we played."

After Penn's No. 3 doubles team of senior Lauren Sadaka and freshman Emily Wolf struck first blood for the Quakers (1-10, 0-1 Ivy) by winning their match, 8-3, Kosminskaya and Anisimova had a golden opportunity to secure the doubles point for the Red and Blue.

With no other matches going on, both teams lined the first court to cheer on their teammates. The Princeton pair of Hilary Bartlett and Taylor Marable stole a break early and the Quakers team never recovered. Kosminskaya and Anisimova committed too many errors and did not take advantage of opportunities to get back into the match.

"We played well, but Princeton took over the net at key points in the match," Schiffman said.

Singles started off dismally for the Quakers, whose No. 5 and No. 6 players were dispatched quickly, leaving Penn down 3-0 and needing a sweep from their top four singles players to rally for an upset.

While sophomore Alexa Ely and Sadaka both won their first sets at No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, they could do little else against the Tigers (13-6, 1-0), each falling in three sets.

Penn's top singles players both couldn't hold their own against Princeton freshmen.

After a 6-3 first set loss to freshman Lauren McHale, Kosminskaya was up a break, 5-3, in the second set and was receiving serve, but could not hold on for the victory and lost her match, 6-3, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Anisimova made countless unforced errors in her 6-4, 6-4 loss to Bartlett. At one point Anisimova's frustration with her sloppy play erupted as she yelled at herself, "Why can't you hit a backhand?"

Without a point to show for themselves after Saturday's drubbing, the Quakers may have a lot of questions to ask.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.